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These are troubled times of financial distress, and uncertainty in the future that just a little while ago, many of us felt so secure about. Yet, one thing stands alone in contrast to all our fears and anxiety…FAITH. Yes, you can laugh at it if you want…even Abraham and Sarah laughed…and yet God honored Abrahams’ faith when he believed God, and gave them a son when they were well beyond childbearing years. If we go to Genesis 12 we see God making a covenant with Abraham, “Leave your country (Ur of the Chaldeans), your people, and your father’s household and go to the land that I will show you….. I will make you into a great nation,” Abraham was also promised a land to inhabit…” Abraham was 75 years old at this time… So Abraham set out with his wife and nephew Lot …to somewhere he did not know. Then, in Genesis 15: 1- 6 we see God promising Abraham a child with his wife Sarah. Abraham was by then 99 year old and Sarah was 90…God promised him a son through whom he would be the father of many nations, confirming the covenant He had previously made with Abraham, that his children would be as many as the stars (Gen 15:5) and Abraham believed God. This faith was counted as righteousness to Abraham, (Romans 4:3) the beginning of the salvation history………that it is through faith in God that we can receive the gift of salvation. “For by grace we are saved through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8) Only if we believe…have faith in God, we can we be saved. Only then, will His grace find us and He will save us…We have to first believe like Abraham did in God’s promises and power. Now then, back to our story. Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah and later, God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice his own son as a burnt offering. This is the only son Abraham had, the one through whom God promised to make him father of many nations….how could God expect Abraham to give up his son? Yet we read… Abraham was willing to do what the Lord requested of him….. As we read on further we see how God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-14) instead of Isaac. So Abraham called the place: “The Lord will Provide” Abraham received many blessings because he believed God and was willing to do what God told him to do. Do you have FAITH that God still provides, and that He blesses when we do what He requires of us? For years, in this country, and many other countries, we have been sacrificing our children to the altars of convenience, popularity, and to all other gods we hold before God. Babies are killed by the thousands…yes, babies….. God called them babies…”As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” Luke 1:44. They feel, and they are human flesh ..but we have been killing them….because they are not convenient, and we have also been telling God to get out of our schools and our government………and now we are in dire financial distress……Did God die, or did He gave up on us and went away? Is He even listening? You can be sure He has been listening. He only wanted to bless us as He did Abraham, but we turned our backs on Him through our faithless lives. Abraham in FAITH set out to follow God even when he knew not where he was going. Are we able to trust God like this? Are we able to go where God says “go” when we do not know where it is that we are going? Yet, this is exactly the kind of faith we need right now……to trust in God, His promises and His power to take care of us in spite of what the market and stock are doing…the businesses failing, and the jobs ending. Test your faith: Have you prayed and asked Him for forgiveness and blessings? Have you thanked Him for His blessings? Have you given to the poor lately? Have you and your children been to church lately? Have you cooked a meal for your sick neighbor? Have you honored your father and mother? Have you loved the unlovely? God wants us to be living sacrifices on to Himself. ” Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2). I believe Dearest Ones, that today, just as God honored Abraham’s faith over 2,000 years ago, He is able to honor our repentance and faith as we return to Him. He may not restore our “fortunes,” but He can give us grace, peace and joy in the midst of our suffering because it may last awhile. Do you trust God, and DO what He requires you to do? God created man in His image, and for him He gave his own breath of life, so we are dependent on Him. Just like the flash needs food, water and air, the soul craves the living God. He created us for this relationship, but we have mostly been living independently from Him. God breathed life, a soul, spirit and intelligence into us. He did not give the same to animals, and when Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground….not mankind….He loves us!!!… But, since the time of Abraham, when the world was not as evil, God was already making plans to bring His people back to Himself…through the sacrifice of His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ…He did what He would not allow Abraham to do…He did it for love…His love for you and for me. All He wants is our hearts...He said, "better obedience than sacrifice." “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
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